John 16:16-3316A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father. 17Then said some of his disciples among themselves, What is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father? 18They said therefore, What is this that he saith, A little while? we cannot tell what he saith. 19Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye inquire among yourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me? 20Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. 21A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. 22And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. 23And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. 24Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. 25These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall show you plainly of the Father. 26At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: 27For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. 28I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. 29His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. 30Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God. 31Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe? 32Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. 33These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:16‑33)
THE Lord has finished the portion of His discourse that unfolds to the disciples the great illumination of mind that will result from the coming of the Holy Spirit. Now, as the discourses draw to their close, He speaks no longer of the Spirit, but of “that day” —the new day about to dawn—with its new revelation of Himself in resurrection (16-22); the new character of intercourse they would have with the Father (23, 24); and the new form in which the Lord would communicate with them (25-28).
We do well to remember that the two events that distinguish “that day” are, the departure of Christ to be with the Father and the coming of the Spirit to dwell in believers. In the portion of the discourse that has just closed, “that day” is viewed in connection with the coming of the Comforter. In this latter portion of the discourse, “that day” is viewed in connection with Christ going to the Father, and all that is involved in His being with the Father.
(V. 16). Wonderful intimations of coming glories to be revealed in the power of the Spirit, have passed before the disciples, but, as the last moments with the disciples slip away, they are left with Jesus Himself as the Object of their affections. The Spirit will indeed draw out these affections, but never is He, like Jesus, the object of them. Thus it is that the Lord engages their hearts with Himself, as He says, “A little while, and ye shall not see Me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see Me.” In these words not only does the Lord engage their hearts with Himself, but He intimates the great events so close at hand, and prepares their hearts for the changes these events would bring.
(Vv. 17, 18). The Lord’s words raise anxious inquiry amongst the disciples, making manifest that every statement was to them a mystery. It is noticeable that as the discourses proceed the disciples grow silent. Five of the disciples have spoken on occasions, but since leaving the upper room no other voice save the Lord’s has been heard. As the great truths of the coming of the Spirit were unfolded, they had listened in silence to that which was so far beyond their comprehension. Now, as the Lord again speaks of Himself, their hearts are stirred to know the meaning of His words. Yet, even so, they speak among themselves, hesitating to utter their difficulties to the Lord.
(Vv. 19-22). The Lord anticipates their desire to ask the meaning of His words, and, not only throws further light upon what He has said, but also tells them how their hearts would be affected, both in sorrow and joy, by the great events so close at hand.
The Lord’s words clearly speak of two short intervals of time, and intimate that soon the disciples would not see Him, and then that they would see Him again. In the light of the events that follow can we not say that these words indicate that, at that moment, there were but a few short hours before the Lord would leave His disciples to pass out of the sight of man, as He goes into the darkness of the Cross and the tomb? Again after a second “little while” the disciples would see the Lord, and yet not as before, in the days of His flesh, but in resurrection. If they would see Him no more as in the days of His humiliation, they would see Him for evermore in the new and glorious resurrection condition beyond death and the grave. It would however, be the same Jesus, who had dwelt among them, borne with their weakness, sustained their faith, and won their hearts, that would come into their midst and say, “Behold My hands and My feet that it is I Myself.”
Moreover the Lord tells His disciples how these changing events will effect them in sorrow and joy. The little while during which they will not see Him, will be a time of overwhelming grief for the disciples—a time of weeping and lamenting for one dead, whose grave was the end of all their earthly hopes. The world, indeed, would rejoice, thinking they had triumphed over One whose presence exposed the evil of their deeds. Nevertheless, when the little while is ended, their sorrow will be turned to joy.
To bring home to the hearts of the disciples these coming events, the Lord uses the illustration of the woman bringing forth her child. The sudden sorrow, the change from anguish to joy, and the birth of the child, exactly sets forth the sudden anguish which would overwhelm the disciples when the Lord has passed into death, even as it illustrates the quick change from anguish to joy, when once again they see the risen Lord as the Firstborn from the dead.
The Lord, in applying His illustration, enlarges upon His words. Already He has said, “Ye shall see Me,” now He adds, “I will see you again.” The world would not see Him, nor would He see the world again. It is to His own that He would come. And so it came to pass, as we read, later on, Jesus stood in the midst and said unto them, Peace be unto you; and when He had so said He showed them His hands and His side. Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord (20:19, 20).
Moreover, the seeing of which the Lord speaks can hardly be confined to the fleeting visits during the forty days after the resurrection. It has been well said, “The risen and living Lord showed Himself to the eye of sense, that He might remain before the eye of faith, not as a memory but as a presence,” and again “It was a seeing that could never be lost or dimmed, but on the contrary grew clearer as it became; more spiritual.” Throughout the time of His absence, while we are yet on earth, and He in the glory, the words of the Lord will ever be true, “Ye shall see Me,” and “I will see you.” Looking steadfastly into that glory, Stephen can say, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God.” Again, the writer to the Hebrews can say, “We see Jesus... crowned with glory and honor.”
It is this special vision of Christ that secures the joy of the believer. “The living Lord is the joy of His people; and because His life is eternal, their joy is permanent and secure.” Thus the Lord can say, “Your joy no man taketh from you.”
(Vv. 23, 24). The Lord has spoken of the new revelation of Himself in the new day so soon to dawn; now He speaks of the new character of intercourse that would become the new day. “In that day,” says the Lord, “ye shall ask Me nothing” —words that do not imply that we are never to address the Lord, but rather that we have direct access to the Father. Martha had no sense of directly speaking to the Father, when she said, “I know that... whatsoever Thou wilt ask of God, God will give it Thee.” (John 11:2222But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. (John 11:22)). We have not now to appeal to the Lord to go to the Father on our behalf, but it is our privilege to directly ask of the Father in the name of Christ. Hitherto the disciples had asked nothing in His name. “In that day” they shall ask in His name, and the Father would give in His name, that their joy might be full. In using the vast resources thus opened to them they would find fullness of joy.
(V. 25). Furthermore, on the Lord’s side, His communications would take a new character. Hitherto much of His teaching had been given in the form of parables or allegories. In the day about to dawn He would speak plainly of the Father. Thus it was in the resurrection, when He sent a message to the disciples plainly saying, “I ascend unto My Father, and your Father; and to My God, and your God.”
(Vv. 26, 28). Though the Lord will plainly tells us of the Father it will not be necessary for the Lord to pray the Father concerning us, as if the Father did not know our needs, or that we had not free access to the Father, for, says the Lord, “The Father Himself loveth you.” The Father has the deepest interest in the disciples, and loves them, because they loved Christ and believed that He had come forth from God.
The Lord closes this part of the discourse by affirming the great truths upon which the whole superstructure of Christianity is based, “I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world; again I leave the world and go to the Father.” Alas! professing Christendom, while affecting to make much of the perfect life of our Lord, is fast giving up the holy claims implied in this great affirmation. This assertion of His divine origin, of His mission in the world, and his return to the Father, fittingly brings the instruction of the discourses to their end.
(V. 27-32). The closing words are not so much instruction as a final word of warning as to the weakness of the disciples, followed by a word that reveals the feelings of the Lord’s heart, and the last word of encouragement.
The disciples, in the presence of this plain affirmation of the truth, can say, “Lo, now speakest Thou plainly and speakest no allegory.” The truth that they had seen but dimly, now becomes definite and clear by the plain words of the Lord. And yet how little they understood the way of death by which the Lord was returning to the Father. Thus the Lord can say, “Do ye now believe?” They did indeed believe, but, like ourselves, too often, they but little knew their own weakness. The Lord has to warn them that the hour was coming, yea had indeed come, when all the disciples would be scattered every man to his own, and the One in whom they had just professed to believe, would be left alone.
Yet if there comes a time when these companions of His life, who have loved and followed Him, think only of themselves and flee from Him in the hour of His trial, He will not be alone, for, as the Lord says, “the Father is with Me.” He does not say the Father will be with Me, however true, but “the Father is with Me.” As in the days of old, in the scene which was but a shadow of this far greater scene, we read of Abraham and Isaac, as they took their way to Mount Moriah, “they went both of them together” (Gen. 22:66And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. (Genesis 22:6)). So now the Father and the Son are together, as the great sacrifice is approached.
(V. 33). Nevertheless, if the Lord will warn the disciples of their weakness, He will not leave them without one last word of cheer and encouragement. Whatever failure in themselves they may have to deplore, whatever trials in the world they may have to meet, yet, in Christ they would have peace. They may find much in themselves, and much in the world to disturb them, but in Christ they would have an unfailing resource—One in whom their hearts could rest in perfect peace. The world may indeed overcome the disciples, as they are shortly to prove, but Christ has overcome the world.
Thus the disciples, and ourselves, may be of good cheer, for the One who loves us, who lives for us, who is coming for us—the One who is with us—is the One who has overcome the world. Thus as the great discourses reach their end we are left with a word of encouragement that, lifting us above all our failure, leaves us in the contemplation of the victory of the Lord.
We triumph in Thy triumphs, Lord:
Thy joys our deepest joys afford,
The fruit of love divine.
While sorrowing, suffering, toiling here,
How does the thought our spirits cheer,
The throne of glory’s Thine.
The Hope.
There is a world beyond this world of sight,
No eye hath seen, nor heart of man conceived,
For those who in the Saviour have believed:
A home of everlasting love and light;
A day of joy that ends the long dark night;
A rich reward, for those who suffered loss;
The Lord’s ‘Well done,’ for those who bore their cross;
The victor’s crown for those who fought the fight.
Then art thou faint and weary by the way?
Lift up thy head, and hear the Master say,
‘I am the Morning Star, the hope of dawn,
I quickly come, to call on high My own,
From shades of night into the cloudless morn,
To see Me face to face, and know as known.’